Eleison

Also, a few Cdramas I've really liked and that you might also like based on your own completed watchlist: Meet Yourself (a really cozy, slow-paced (but still super enjoyable) slice of life Cdrama that's well-paced despite not much "happening," poignant, thoughtful, and just lovely); Legend Of Shen Li (I didn't think I could like xianxia, but this drama proved me wrong; the beginning was a little rocky but I ended up really liking it); Guardians of the Dafeng (kind of a wuxia/xuanhuan, I think, and lots of fun; the romance is nothing great but Dylan Wang is lots of fun in it (it does end on a cliffhanger and hard core teased a second season)); Ever Night (has some controversial parts (the romance) and feels a bit dated and has confusing world-building, but the fight scenes are AMAZING and the OST/BGMs are glorious); Joy Of Life (both seasons; this is a wuxia/political thriller and very twisty with strategizing galore; very well-acted with lots of super fun characters; only two seasons so far and season 2 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger (I guess the original novel was monstrously long and it's been broken into parts and it's still not done)); A Dream Of Splendor (it has some confusing politics and some miscommunication between the leads in the second half which was a bit annoying, but it's a good romance with great chemistry and a well done pseudo-historical costume drama); Nirvana In Fire, seasons 1 and 2 (especially the first season is hard to get into, and the first few episodes throw so many characters at you, but these are top shelf Cdramas; the best I've seen. They rival the best Kdramas I've seen; I put them in their own category, though, because they are genre-wise and in terms of scale, nothing like what Kdrama does so it's hard to compare. They are magnificently beautiful, poignant, and powerfully told). Those are some of my recs for Cdrama based on your own list; some of your ratings are similar to mine woth other dramas we've both seen. :)

I don't remember if I saw Rurouni Kenshin on your list, but I have a feeling you'd like all those, too (though you've probably already seen them).

Have you seen Reset, Mobius or Under The Skin? These are all pretty solid crime thriller/murder mysteries (though Reset has a sci-fi component because it takes place in a time loop; Mobius has a flavor of that as well). Under The Skin took me some time to get into, but the friendship is very well done and it's like a buddy cop crime thriller with a twist (because one of the MLs is an artist and they use his portrait drawing skills in the crime solving which was unique and fascinating in that setting).

Yeah maybe it was my phone! 🤷‍♀️

For POJ on my phone it was often grainy, especially in the snowing shots. I thought it was my connection or wifi or something, but I checked, and it wasn't. It must have been the drama itself. Everyone was talking about the amazing cinematography and I was confused. 😅

He looks SO different from season 1. Who knew hair could make such a difference. His styling also seems more "young person" don't you think?

Hopefully he doesn't use Duan Xu to manipulate her.

Does it seem like Jiang Ai will help Simu? I'm only at 24 or 25, and so far she seems like she's kind of teetering on the edge of going full-on, "I'll-destroy-everyone-in-my-way," selfish ambition mode like Yan Ke who's already a goner as far as that is concerned.

Yes, what I loved about Ever Night was that most of the actors were not dubbed, which is super unusual, and he has a great voice (that I became familiar with due to Ever Night).

In Goong, she's not forced necessarily. More like she's pressured/incentivized to do so because her family got to live with financial comfort of she did. No one made her do it.

Which episode was that?

I can't seem to finish My Journey To You and I know the director is the same so that scared me off from trying VoS... 😅

I wouldn't say this type of drama is good for new forays into Cdrama. 😅 Wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan (which this is, I believe) are pretty stylistic and culturally/mythologically loaded so they're kind of tough to get into with no exposure or background. It's taken me some time to get used to. Do you like costume/period dramas or modern dramas (for Kdrama, I assume) usually? Pseudo-historical csotume Cdramas can sometimes be a bit easier to get into.

Good to know!

Joy of Life is great, but there is not much romance, nor is it very well done. It's more of a twisty, political wuxia drama (with potential for some hinted at sci-fi elements 😅). The ML is fabulous in it, and worth it just for him and many of the other wonderful supporting characters. He's awesome in Under The Microscope, too.

Have you seen Boys Over Flowers F4 Thailand? The best BOFs in my opinion, even though it's fairly low budget and the drama was almost all of the leads' breakout roles.

This is on there and it's free? In the U.S.?

I don't use illegal platforms. 😔

Similar premise how?

I don't think there's been an agreed engagement between the leads from a former generation like in Goong (I'm going off of the drama). I haven't seen this yet, but the Goong premise seems a little more compelling/interesting to me. It made sense to me that the FL would agree to the marriage to save her family from poverty and then get divorced later on (which the prince was all for at the beginning, so they saw it like a temporary transaction, though honestly her family was not THAT poor 😅), whereas here, it seems the FL just wants to boost her image in society and the ML wants to escape being controlled (though not clear how marrying a chaebol marred by scandal would do that)? 🤷‍♀️

I'm not subscribed. 😭 I've got to draw the line somewhere at the amount of money I put out towards streaming services. I'm thinking I'll wait to get a free trial, then binge it (if it's good, that is; another perk to waiting until it's done airing. I was reminded recently why I wait until a kdrama is done to start it; starting one while it's airing these days is a perilous endeavor because so many don't stick the landing in the second half anymore).

It's a fantastical alternate universe where they play with the premise that the Korean monarchy continued from the Joseon period into the modern era. There have been a handful of these over the decades of Kdrama (Goong/Princess Hours, King: The Eternal Monarch, The King 2 Hearts, The Last Empress, My Princess, etc.).

I'm sad this is on Disney cause I'm a sucker for these alternate universe Korean monarchy dramas. 😅

"Beskin Rabbits" as a stand-in for "Baskin Robbins" 😂😂😂